Italy orders American Express to stop issuing credit cards

Central bank of Italy has ordered American Express to discontinue distributing new credit cards after the payment network failed to comply with the regulation on money laundering, usury, and transparency.

The move came after customers’ complaints about overbearing rates, and the use of confusing and complicated wordage by the credit card industry.

American Express acknowledged the actions and reported that at the moment the company is introducing some amendments to its information-technology systems and other procedures in order to "adhere more closely to the regulations applicable to payments service providers and financial intermediaries".